Ever In Your Favor
by LastProtocol01
Summary: (All OC fanfiction) One person wealthy but misunderstood and hated because of family, the other poor but loved by friends. They would have to work together to survive the most dangerous game created. One could live if the other died but both could live if they worked together. Will they manage to push through or will they only destroy themselves?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys~!**

**Here's another story my friend and I worked on. We haven't abandoned our other story so here we are~**

**Hope you enjoy this one. Read, Rate and Review!**

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**Chapter 1**

Xander crouched down behind some bushes with a bow in his hand.

The sixteen year old boy stood still and quiet like a statue as he waited for his prey to walk into his snare. He felt the early morning sunshine shone through gaps in the trees of the forest that surrounded his home. Or should he call it hellhole?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a small rustling in the bushes ahead. He quietly nocked an arrow and pointed it at the snare as a rabbit came out of the bushes, his gray eyes narrowed in concentration.

He tensed, waiting for the rabbit to go towards its death. He hated killing animals like this, but his family needed the money and food. That rabbit's life would mean dinner for a night.

Just as the rabbit stepped on the snare, Xander murmured an apology and released the arrow. The rabbit's panicked squeals were quickly cut off as the arrow pierced through its eye. A quick death that's what Xander wanted.

Xander stood up as he ran a calloused hand through his dirty blonde hair and walked over to where the dead rodent lay. He pulled the arrow from its eye and slipped it back into his quiver. _District 12 is the worst place to be. Even being in 13 would've been better than this... _He sighed, picking it up by the ears and resetting his snare so that it would be ready for another victim.

After a few more kills, he checked the old battered watch he inherited from his mother. It was around two hours until he had to go to school. After quickly making a few last minute checks on his snares, he quickly left the forest. He quickly checked his surroundings before quietly slipping under the twenty-foot high electric fence that surrounded the district. The fence was almost always off so Xander had no problem.

He relaxed once he was back inside of the fence. Xander decided to go home first, and check on his little sister Eliza before going to sell the animals that had been caught that day.

He ducked through the streets, avoiding Peacekeepers as he went back to his shack of a home. Despite his muscular frame, he was unnoticed as he slinked through the streets of the Seam.

Xander slipped inside silently. A little girl with a stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest sat there, waiting. "Xa-"

He put a finger to his lips as he walked over to her. "Shh, there are some Peacekeepers near the house. Don't want to draw any attention, now do we?"

Eliza nodded quickly and put a finger to her lips. "Did you bring berries big brother?" She said quietly.

Xander knelt down at the edge of the bed and set his bag on the ground. He unzipped it and pulled out a dark cloth, tied into a small pouch. "Yeah."

Eliza smiled a toothy grin and took the pouch from Xander's hand. She didn't take a berry out but tied it to her waist. At his questioning glance, she replied, "I'm saving it for school."

"Right, right." He smiled and brushed some of her chocolate hair from her eyes. "You ready to go?"

Eliza nodded and stood up. She wore the pale blue dress that she inherited from their mother when she passed away. "Did you sell what you caught yet?"

"Not yet, I was thinking of taking you with me once I got ready." Xander was rummaging through his drawers to find a clean pair of clothes.

"Okay Xander. If you hurry, we might even catch Skye there. You know she always visits the Hob to try and help out even though she's the mayor's daughter." She giggled.

Xander didn't say anything as he changed into a clean shirt and jeans. He didn't understand how his sister could read his thoughts that easily. "We don't go near her Eliza. You know that. "

"But she's nice! She sometimes gives out some of her lunch to the Seam kids in our class." Eliza told him. "She's not like the other Merchant kids!"

He shot her a look. "I don't care. We don't get involved with them, she could...rat us out..." He shook his head, ending the conversation and picked up the bag. "Let's go, maybe we'll have a little time left to shop."

Eliza frowned. "Okay Xander. Can we get that muffin I saw in the Bakery the other day?"

Xander smiled at her. "Sure sweetie." He said before he led her out of the shack.

The pair walked quickly along the streets of the Seam and headed quickly to the Hob. Even at this time of the morning, the streets were already crowded with people going to work in the medicine research centers. Ever since the era of the legendary Katniss and Peeta Mellark, District 12 had stopped mining for coal and instead worked on medicine.

"Stick close to me. Don't want you getting lost in here..." He smiled down at his sister, and led her into the heart of the Hob, where he could make the best money off his kills.

Eliza nodded in response and stuck close to Xander. He quickly made his trades with one of the merchants while Eliza stood quietly to the side. After a few good trades, he decided to keep two of rabbits. He planned on trading them at the Bakery for the muffin the Eliza had asked for. He quickly led his sister out of the Hob and headed towards the bakery in the Merchant section of District 12. Just as they exited the Hob, he roughly bumped into something or more accurately, someone.

Instinctively, Xander pushed his sister behind him, never letting go of her hand. "Excuse us." He said apologetically, and started to move past the girl they had run into. Xander didn't want to make eye contact with her; he knew who that girl was. Everyone in town did.

Despite this, he found himself taking a peek at the girl. His gray eyes locked with confused bright blue ones before they were surrounded by the morning crowd.

Eliza looked over her shoulder, hoping to find those blue eyes again but they were already lost. "Why do you always avoid her Xander?"

Her older brother flinched. Eliza had been three when their mother died, what the mayor had done to her. "I just don't like Merchants is all." He lied.

The seven year old frowned. "But what..." She trailed off. "Okay Xander."

Xander sighed faintly as they neared the bakery. _I wish I could explain it to you Eliza. If only you know that by not telling you these things I'm protecting you..._

Xander knocked on the back door of the Bakery and watched as a middle-aged woman stepped out. When she saw the two siblings, she smiled at them. "Well hello there you two. Is there anything I can get you? I see you have two plump rabbits for me today."

"How much could we get a as trade for the two rabbits ma'am?" Xander gave a weak smile.

"Let's see." She pursed her lips in thought before smiling. "How about two muffins? How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect." Xander said, and felt Eliza's hand grip his a little tighter. It wasn't often she got a treat from the merchant's bakery.

"Alright. I'll just take these two and get you those muffins." She winked as she took the two dead rodents and headed inside the building.

The woman came back with two chocolate chip muffins and handed each of them one. "There you are." She smiled.

"Thank you ma'am." Xander smiled back and led his sister away. "Told you I'd get a muffin Eliza." He whispered to the little girl beside him.

The little girl giggled. "Thank you Xander!"

"No problem sweetie." The two ate their muffins happily on the way to school.

"Uhm...Excuse me?" A quiet female voice sounded from behind them. "Are you...Xander Jonston?"

Xander turned to look at the girl and froze for a moment. "Eliza, go on ahead. I'll be right there..." He told his kid sister.

"Okay Xander." Eliza glanced at the two before continuing on to school.

The dirty blonde haired boy looked down at Skye Hallows. The daughter of District 12's mayor. "Sorry, I don't want her to be late. Yes, I'm Xander Jonston, is there a problem?" A hint of fear was in his voice as if he expected to be sentenced to a beating.

He saw Skye watch Eliza as the little girl walked towards school before looking up at him. Unlike the other merchant girls, and the mayor's daughter at that, Skye mostly wore t-shirts and loose faded pants with sneakers. She wore a floppy gray hat on her head that covers part of her face most of the time. Xander could see a few of the short blonde hair stick out from under that hat.

Skye was a quiet girl much to people's surprise. Most would assume that she would be boastful for being the Mayor's daughter but not Skye. She would rather stay out of the spotlight than be in it.

"Is there a problem?" Xander repeated patiently. He had to try not to get lost in her beautiful blue eyes.

Skye blinked. Xander thought he saw a faint blush on her face but dismissed it as his imagination. Besides, why would the Mayor's daughter ever like him anyway? The thought made him sad for some reason. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Skye waved a hand in front of his face, an amused expression on hers.

"Xander...Are you okay?" She asked.

Immediately, he jumped back startled. "F-Fine!"

Skye raised an eyebrow, the corner of her lips twitching as though she was fighting a smile. "If you're sure. I was just wondering if you're going hunting later."

He stood there, staring at her wide-eyed. "How did you know...?" As far as he knew, Xander hadn't told anyone but a few people in the Hob and his family that he hunted.

Skye scratched the back of her neck, not meeting his eyes. "Well I was looking for a nice rabbit at the Hob and Old Man Henry told me to go to you because you catch them cleanly."

"O-Oh..." So he wasn't in trouble. That was good. "Um, yeah I could go later today..."

At that, she smiled brightly at him. "If it's not too much trouble, could you...catch me one or two rabbits? I'll meet you at the Hob later if you want."

"Yeah, sure...that...that's fine." He smiled shyly at her.

Skye's smile went wider. "Thanks Xander! That means a lot to me." She said before walking towards school. She stopped then turned around and smiled shyly at him. "I'll see you later then." She said before walking ahead.

He waited until she was out of sight before he continued walking. He could feel his heart flutter in his chest, every time he was around Skye he got so skittish. It was a feeling that he both enjoyed and didn't understand.

"So what happened Xander? Did you get in trouble?" His sister's voice sounded from beside him. "And...Are you blushing?"

Xander didn't look at his sister, his cheeks got even redder when she noticed him blushing. "No, I didn't get in trouble. But after school, we have to go straight home."

"But...why? You said we were going to the meadow today."

"We can go tomorrow. I uh, someone wanted me to catch something for them today. It was just someone from the Hob asking Skye to pass on the order."

Eliza nodded. "Alright Xander. I'm going to my class. I'll see you by the tree after school okay?"

"Gotcha." Xander smiled and watched her hurry off to class. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde locks and walked to his first class. As he walked he smiled to himself but he didn't know why.

As he sat down at his desk, his mind kept telling him no. He shouldn't feel this way about Skye. Her dad had done things that Xander and his father couldn't ever forgive him for.

So, why was he so giddy?

But as the school day went on the more he thought about the Mayor's daughter. How her eyes seemed to shine like stars when she smiled. How when she passed him in the hallways, the scent of honey and spring was left behind even though Xander knew for a fact that Skye hated perfumes.

By his last class, Xander had pretty much accepted that Skye wouldn't leave his thoughts. He had his head resting in his hands, staring off into space. _Maybe she could go on the hunt with me…That might impress her._

Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! Impress her? Why was he thinking that? Why would he even think of trying to impress the _mayor's_ daughter? Besides, she might not even be allowed to go out of the fence. She might even get the two of them to be caught. So why was he even thinking of it?

Xander scolded himself mentally. He shouldn't be thinking of that, it wasn't right...was it? He shook his head wanting to get rid of the thoughts that lingered in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"So…What's with the face?"

Xander blinked and turned to his left to find his best friend smirking at him. Jaycee Kildren, or most commonly known as Jay, was Xander's childhood friend. His family had been…taken care of by the mayor when he was five along with Xander's mother. Jay only had his older sister left who had turned eighteen last month. Jay was sixteen years old now like Xander.

Jay had the usual Seam look: dark hair and gray eyes. That's why Xander looked a bit out of place at the Seam because he had dirty blonde hair but had the Seam gray eyes. Jay always had that crooked smile that makes you feel like he knows something you don't.

"What face?" Xander said quietly, hoping their teacher wouldn't notice them talking.

"The face you have on right now." Jay made a quick glance at the teacher before quickly whispering. "The face that says something good happened today. In fact, I can see a small blush."

That only made Xander blush harder. "I-It's nothing Jay..." He looked away from his childhood friend.

"It doesn't look like nothing." Jay stated. "I'll find out sooner or later Xander. You might as well tell me now- Oh wait let me guess!"

"Fine, then guess..." Xander mumbled.

"Is it about that girl? What's her name...?" Jay scratched his head before his eyes widened. "Oh right, Kiara! Is this about Kiara?"

His shoulders relaxed. Jay was good at reading people's emotions, but when it came to what they were about...he was a bit off. "Why would you think it's about Kiara?" Xander looked over at his friend.

Jay shrugged. "Well you kind of spend time with her than most people except for your sister and me."

"Kiara's father is one of my best 'customers', we just talk, there's really nothing between us."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Okay then, I can tell you're not lying. Let's see. How about...Skye then?" He asked jokingly.

That's when Xander fell silent. If he spoke, Jay would surely see through it, if he didn't...well either way Jay was figuring it out.

Jay's mouth fell open after a few moments. "You're kidding. The _mayor's daughter?_"

Xander filled his thumbs, looking down at the ground. "That's bad...isn't it?"

"Bad? Heck yeah! Do you know what that girl's father did to our families?" Jay hissed, his eyes narrowed.

"Of course I know!" It was hard for Xander to keep his voice low as he returned the glare. That was odd for him, to turn like that, but the look turned sad after a moment. "You think I could ever forget that? Really Jay, I don't want to feel that way but I can't help it..."

"Yeah well the reaping's tomorrow. Personally I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Skye to get reaped. Just so the mayor knows what it feels like to lose their family." Jay muttered harshly.

Xander gaped at Jay. Sure he agreed, but Skye was overall harmless. "Jaycee, I know how you feel but wishing that kind of fate upon someone is downright wrong. No one wants to be put into the reaping!"

Jay just stayed quiet for the rest of the class but glared at the floor. Soon the bell rang signalling the end of another day. Usually the students would practically run over others just to get out but today was sullen. And everyone knew why. Today was the day before the reaping. Before two kids were chosen as tributes for the annual slaughter.

Xander wished for the old days. His father used to tell him and his sister stories about the era of Katniss and Peeta Mellark. While they were alive, it was peace. There were no Hunger Games. But every good thing had to end. When the couple died, the Capitol re-instated the Games a few years after. There was a rule change though. It stated that if the tributes from the same District remain as the last ones standing, they win the Games for their District.

Xander avoided Jay after class, instead he went looking for his sister and possibly even Skye. He would have to make sure his father was home to take care of Eliza. Just until the reaping was over.

"Xander!" Eliza pushed through the crowd and walked up to her big brother. "Are we going home now?"

"Yeah." Xander took her hand. "Then I have to go hunting again, stay near the house until I get back though alright?"

"Alright big brother. Dad's probably home now." She said as they walked out of the building. Xander took a quick sweep of his surroundings for any possible danger. His gray eyes spotted a small figure sitting against one of the trees. It was Skye and she had her floppy gray hat covering most of her face. Xander's eyebrows furrowed. Everyone knew that Skye always immediately went home after school so what was she still doing here at school?

"Hmm..." Xander looked down at Eliza. "Come on." He led her through the crowd. Hopefully Skye would be there when he got back.

They arrived at their shack of a house just as their father opened the door. He smiled at them. Andrew Jonston was a tall man with graying hair and the Seam gray eyes. He worked at one of the research facilities but as a cleaner. "Hello kids. Welcome home."

"Hey Dad." Xander gave him a smile and let Eliza walk in without him. "I may be home a little later today. Someone at the Hob wanted me to go out and catch some rabbits for them." He hoped his father would buy the lie of it being just someone from the Hob.

Apparently he did. He nodded and ruffled Xander's hair. "Take care okay son? I'll see you later. Try and be home by nine."

"Sure Dad." He watched his father walk off before jogging back to the school. Hopefully, the mayor's daughter would still be there, that is if he was lucky.

As he walked up the school gates, he saw that Skye was indeed still under the tree's shadows. If he didn't have sharp eyes, he wouldn't have noticed her. Xander tilted his head slightly. Skye seemed to be...curled up into herself.

He cautiously started to walk up to her, butterflies flapping around in his stomach. "S-Skye?"

Skye jumped and looked around in panic. Her eyes were slightly red and Xander could see some faint tear stains on her cheeks.

Xander surprised himself when he knelt down beside her. "Are you okay...?"

Skye's eyes widened and she hastily wiped her face with her hat. "Yeah I'm f-fine."

"Y-You were crying, weren't you?" His eyes locked with hers.

Slightly bloodshot blue eyes stared into grey ones before Skye looked away. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, its okay."

Xander blushed faintly. "Um, do you...Do you want to go with me to catch those rabbits?"

Skye shook her head. "I'll probably just get you caught. I'll just wait by the Hob okay?"

His shoulders slumped sadly. "Oh...Okay..." He stood up and started to walk towards the fence. Xander glanced back at her once before continuing on. He crawled under the fence after checking that it was off then went to trap two rabbits for Skye. He took out his bow and quiver of arrows that he had hidden in one of the trees.

Xander slipped the quiver on and went to go check his snares. Hopefully the hunt would be quick so that he could get back soon. Someone must have been looking out for him because he saw that three of the snares he set up had two rabbits and a squirrel trapped in them. He quickly untangled the rodents' heads from the trap and reset them. After cleaning those in the river nearby, he saw that it was already getting dark.

_Must be almost nine by now, I have to hurry back!_ Xander hurried back to the fence, nearly forgetting to drop off his quiver and bow in the trunk of a rotting tree first. He quickly slipped under the fence and ran towards the Hob, avoiding the few Peacekeepers that were roaming the streets.

The peacemakers made him sick. They stayed out all night so no time was safe for those who lived in the Seam. Xander slowed to a walk once he reached the Hob, most of the shops were closed except a few at the far end. He looked around and quickly spotted Skye hiding near one of the closed shops. She was twitching and looked around as if something was looking for her.

He walked over to her. "I got your rabbits." Xander gave a weak smile.

Skye jumped and turned to him. Her blue eyes shone with panic until she saw that it was only Xander. She weakly smiled at him and took the rabbits from him. When their hands touched, a small shock made them jump away slightly in surprise. The shock wasn't painful, just surprising. Skye smiled up at him again. "Thanks Xander."

"I-It was nothing." He looked down at his feet. He knew he was blushing as he kicked a small stone aside.

"No really, thanks. It really me-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence and paled. A small noise could be heard in the otherwise silent streets of the Hob. It was the clicking of leather shoes. Skye quickly looked at Xander in panic and pushed him roughly into a hidden alley. Who knew the small girl was so strong? Xander fell on his backside in the darkness.

Xander scrambled into the darker shadows. He watched curiously, and frightened, Skye had looked so freaked out when she had heard the sound.

"Well well well. What do we have here?" A cold voice sounded from the darkness of the Hob streets. Skye paled and took a small step back. "So this is where you get those rabbits."

Xander paled as his eyes widened. _Mayor Hallows..._ He felt himself start shaking. District 12's mayor scared him to death.

"H-hello dad." Skye stuttered out, fear lacing her voice. Xander was surprised. Why would Skye be afraid? This was her father.

Then a dreadful thought came to his mind. What if Skye's father was abusive? That might explain his ruthless behavior towards the citizens of District 12. Xander shook his head. That can't be. This was Mayor Hallows' own daughter. Xander had heard that Skye's mother had died giving birth so Skye was the only family Mayor Hallows had left. Maybe she was just scared that he caught her out so late. Yes, that must be the reason.

Because of his musing, he missed most of their conversation. He looked at Skye and saw that she had an expressionless face and she was looking at her feet.

"House. Now." Mayor Hallows said coldly.

"Y-yes da- Mayor Hallows." Skye replied quietly and followed her father out of the Hob.

When they were out of earshot, Xander came from his hiding place solemnly. Skye most likely was being mistreated at home by some means. That little bit of their conversation had said enough.


End file.
